Historic District Commission Meeting

HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MINUTES OF September 3, 2019 The Historic District Commission of the City of Norman, Cleveland County, State of Oklahoma, met for the Regular Meeting on September 3, 2019, at 5:30 p.m. Notice and Agenda of the meeting were posted at 201 West Gray Building-A, the Norman Municipal Building and at www.Normanok.gov twenty-four hours prior to the beginning of the meeting. Chair Cameron Brewer called the meeting to order at 5:31 p.m. Item No. 1, being: Roll Call. MEMBERS PRESENT: Cameron Brewer Elizabeth Foreman Rick Hall Greg Heiser Russell Kaplan Michael Zorba Mitch Baroff Emily Wilkins MEMBERS ABSENT: A quorum was present. STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Anai's Starr, Planner II Tara Reynolds, Admin Tech III Jeanne Snider, Assistant City Attorney GUESTS: Jorge Mendros Thekla Mendros Joe Brown * Item No. 2, being: Approval of the Minutes from the August 5, 2019 Regular Meeting. Motion by Rick Hall for approval of the minutes from the August 5, 2019 regular meeting; Second by Michael Zorba. The motion was approved unanimously. *  Historic District Commission September 3, 2019 Page2 of4 Item No. 3, being: HD (19-27) Consideration of a Certificate of Appropriateness request for the removal of wood windows and installation of vinyl windows for the property located at 904 S Miller Ave. Motion by Russell Kaplan to approve item #3; Second by Emily Wilkins. Anais Starr presented the staff report. The applicant's son, Jorge Mendros, 5800 N Porter Ave, discussed the reasons for the project: • They were unaware the property was in a Historic District • The house already has non-original vinyl siding • Would like to remove the property from the Historic District • Windows were replaced due to deterioration, and are beyond repair Public comments were made by Joe Brown, 825-829 Miller St, expressed concern over the cost of replacing his wood windows. He also pointed out that this neighborhood is comprised of smaller homes, and the cost of replacing or repairing wood windows is a heavy cost burden. Commission comments and discussion touched on several items: • There are three instances documented where the applicant or their realtor was informed of the property being on the historic district listing, but the applicants did not receive any of that mail. • The applicant argued that the presence of vinyl siding covers up the historic nature of the home, but a district survey stated the home was still a contributing structure despite the vinyl siding. • There is not a procedure to remove a single property from the Historic District, it would be a zoning request. • It would have been helpful to have photos of the original windows to determine their condition, and if they are repairable or not. • Vinyl is not an appropriate substitute according to the Historic District guidelines . • It is possible to request an examination of the windows be completed to determine if they are repairable. • A former application was given three years to replace their windows with wooden windows due to the cost. This could be an option for this application. • Regardless of whether the applicant was aware of the property's historic designation, the guidelines must be followed to protect the historic nature of the district. • Wood windows are one of the defining characteristics of historic districts. • The commission is mandated to enforce the guidelines. • The applicant has the option to postpone or amend their application, but they decided to proceed with the current application. A vote on the motion to approve as submitted was taken with the following result:  Historic District Commission September 3, 2019 Page 3 of4 YEAS: NAYS: Cameron Brewer, Mitch Baroff, Elizabeth Foreman, Rick Hall, Greg Heiser, Russell Kaplan, Emily Wilkins, Michael Zorba ABSENT: The motion failed unanimously. Ms. Starr noted that there is a 10-day period to file an appeal to the City Council. * Item No. 4, being: Staff report on active Certificates of Appropriateness and Administrative Bypass issued since August 5, 2019 and consideration of six-month extension requests for expiring COAs. • 321 E Apache - COA expired, and house is for sale. • 635 Okmulgee - Work continues. • 715 S Crawford- Garage is demolished, work is complete. • 510 Shawnee - Work has not started. • 601 E Boyd-Fence is under construction. • 535 E Boyd- Work continues. • 614 E Boyd- Work continues. • 720 W Boyd - Work has not started. Administrative bypass: • 323 E Apache - 4' & 6' rear yard fence. • 631 S Lahoma - 6' rear yard fence. * Item No. 5, being: Discussion and consideration of progress report regarding the FY 2019- 2020 CLG Application for funds with the Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office. $16,767 CLG Allocation $150-NAPC Dues $1,500 - AP A Conference $14,517 - Consultant Update Historic District Guidelines City Matching $35,000 Next Step- Working on RFP anticipate sending out RFP mid-September * Item No. 6, being: Discussion regarding the update of the Historic District Guidelines. • The RFP will hopefully be going out in September. • There will be 2 meetings between consultant & HDC due to funding. An initial meeting, and a review of the draft meeting. * Historic District Commission September 3, 2019 Page 4 of4 Item No. 7, being: Miscellaneous comments of the Historic District Commission and city staff. • Former commissioner Glen Roberson passed away. • This will be Chair Cameron Brewer's last HD meeting, as he is stepping down. * Item No. 8, being: Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 7: 14 p.m. ve. . .mLL>-'M Passed and approved this _ _\._._\__ day of _ _,_N.......,,.e.... .........."<+.- - - - '' 2019. ~lZ j hrz~ hForeman, Vice-Chair